


Taking Care

by ByTheAngell (SomeLittleInfamy)



Series: Tumblr Prompts [21]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Gen, M/M, Mostly Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-02
Updated: 2019-03-16
Packaged: 2019-09-05 23:51:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16820944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SomeLittleInfamy/pseuds/ByTheAngell
Summary: When a partially successful mission ends with Alec and Jace rescuing a warlock child, Alec is certain he can handle watching over her... until the magical tantrum she throws is a bit much, even for him.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Using this for two prompts: “I wish you would write a fic where someone has to deal with a warlock child throwing a magic tantrum” and “ they're on a mission and they find a baby and the baby won't calm down and then they call Magnus to see if something is wrong with the baby and he manages to calm it down and it's make baby noises and funny faces and showing him tricks with magic and and -”

“CALL MAGNUS,” Jace screams for what is probably the dozenth time since they arrived on the scene.   
  
“Absolutely not,” Alec repeats for what is  _ also _ the dozenth time. “This is fine. We can handle this.” 

“Speak for yourself,” Jace says, handing the baby over to Alec who looks dubiously at her before taking her back into his arms... and for good reason. More than once there have been flames, one time enough to catch the tips of Jace’s hair on fire. He’s convinced he’ll never get rid of the smell of burning hair now as it lingers in the air around his head every time he moves. 

Now the child’s warlock’s magic rises up directly above Alec as he holds her, and from a swirling cloud of crimson dumps what must be at least two gallons of water directly onto Alec’s head, soaking through his shirt and plastering his hair against the sides of his face. 

“Stop it,” he pleads with the warlock child, shifting her in his arms so that he isn’t crushing the delicate dragonfly wings on the middle of her back. “Please, just calm down.” 

“Can  _ I _ call Magnus?” Jace questions, already pulling his phone out without waiting for an answer. 

“ABSOLUTELY NOT,” Alec seems even more panicked at that idea. “I’m so good with Madzie, I don’t know why this is so difficult.” 

Alec doesn’t notice, too preoccupied with the toddler in his arms, but Jace is sending a quick text to Magnus without his permission before sliding the phone back innocently into his pocket. 

“No one expects you to be good with every kid, Alec. Just admit defeat and move on. I’m sure there’s paperwork or something you should be doing anyway.” 

But Alec remains resolute, for reasons Jace can’t begin to fathom. “She’s my responsibility. I’ve got this. You can go if you want.” He insists. 

And that’s when it clicks for Jace. “Alec, you aren’t responsible for her. She’s going to be alright, The Council will find somewhere to take her in. This isn’t your fault.” 

Alec stares at the child in his arms, refusing to make eye contact with his brother. The child begins to cry louder, squirming in his grip. “Just go, Jace. It’s fine.” 

“Oh no you don’t. I’m definitely not leaving you alone like this until Magnus gets here, and--” 

“What do you mean, until Magnus gets here?! By the angel, if you--” But it’s too late, Alec realizes, hearing the tell-tale sound of a portal opening up behind him in his office. He glares at Jace who gives him a dismissive shrug. 

“What seems to be the--  _ oh _ .” Magnus says, taking one look at the general destruction around the room. Alec looks like he just waded out of the ocean, Jace still smells like he’s on fire, and the room itself looks like a hurricane rolled through not too long ago. “...it seems I missed the natural disaster warning for the Institute on the weather report this morning.” 

“Ha-ha, very funny.” Jace crosses his arms and rolls his eyes.    
  
“I told him not to call you.” 

“Good thing he didn’t listen.” Magnus crosses the room until he’s standing next to Alec. “May I?” Holding his hands out expectantly he waits. Alec hesitates for only a moment before nodding, allowing Magnus to take the warlock girl into his arms gingerly. 

“Aren’t you precious,” he says, flashing his cats eyes at her with a calm smile. She stills, at first in shock, and then in curiosity, reaching a hand out towards his face. When she touches his nose Magnus scrunches his face up into an impossibly adorable squish of wrinkled features that have both Alec and the child laughing. 

Jace, for his part, mostly observes, surprised at the side of his parabatai and his boyfriend he doesn’t get to see nearly enough. 

“...how did you do that?” Alec demands, concerns forgotten for a moment while Magnus makes soft soothing noises at the young warlock. 

“Magic.” Magnus winks. “Where did you find her?” 

Alec tenses again, smile gone in an instant, and it’s Jace who responds quietly. “Demon attack. Targeted. The warlock watching after her didn’t make it.” 

Magnus frowns. “I see.” Sighing, he looks sadly back down at the young warlock. The child looks close to tears again with the attention shifted away from her and Magnus places her gently down on the floor, kneeling next to her. Raising his hands he creates a small shower of yellow sparks, harmless in nature, that flicker as they fall down around her. Her lips cease trembling and part in a giggle, the first smile any of them have seen on her since they found her, and the three men standing around her can’t help but smile despite the gravity of the whole situation. 

Magnus keeps up a series of small displays of magic - creating animal shapes with blue flame-like spirals, floating her an inch off the ground to hover weightlessly, conjuring up a ball he enchants to roll away from her just before she reaches it to keep her distracted. After a little while she allows Alec to join in, no longer shying away from him or Jace. 

“I know the Clave has procedures for cases like this, but I hate the idea of handing her over to more strangers.” Alec complains, relieved to see her finally calm and happy. 

“What if we watched her, just until she gets a proper guardian?” Magnus offers slowly, raising an eyebrow in question. 

Alec’s head shoots up at the suggestion. “Us?”   
  
“Unless you’re opposed to the idea. She’s younger than Madzie, but I think we have enough experience to manage for a little while. Better than handing her off to some clueless Shadowhunters… no offense.” 

Jace huffs out a laugh, then silence falls again until Alec finally replies. 

“Yeah. Alright. I’ll put in a formal request,” he decides, standing. “But I don’t see any reason they’d say no.” 

“I’ll go with--” Magnus begins to offer, only to be stopped almost immediately by a panicked Jace. 

“Wait! You’re not going to leave me here alone, are you? Clueless Shadowhunter here, remember? I’m not exactly looking to get set on fire again today, thank you.” 

“Good luck,” Magnus says, opening a portal and stepping through, Alec following behind. It opens back out into the hallway outside the closed door of Alec’s office where they can hear Jace yelling indignantly after them. 

Alec turns to Magnus with a smirk. “That was mean,” he points out. 

“But funny,” Magnus counters. “Just let him sweat for a minute, then I’ll go back in. You go deal with your boring red tape, I’ll watch over the children.” 

“The chil--” Alec starts to question before the implication hits him and he snorts. “Play nice.” 

“Of course, darling.” His smile is light and playful, but the words are honest. “Anything for you.” 


	2. The Love We Share

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After watching over Nora for a full month, it's time to turn her over to an orphanage when no one steps forward to claim guardianship of the warlock child. But will Magnus and Alec have the heart to give her up?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enough people asked me about a continuation of this (ages ago, I know), I was randomly inspired to give it that second part! <3

Alec doesn’t bother knocking when he arrives back at the loft, turning his key in the lock and pushing the door open without hesitation. 

“Magnus Bane’s Home for Wayward Shadowhunters - come right in, I’m not even sure why I own a lock!” Magnus’ voice reaches him from the kitchen, not even bothering to look out and see who it is when he hears the door open.

Alec is about to question the statement when he sees exactly what he’s referencing: sitting in the living room are Isabelle, Jace, and Clary - with Nora in the middle, eating up every last bit of the attention focused on her. Isabelle is holding the little warlock girl upright gently by her hands, her dragonfly wings coming through the little slits Magnus expertly cut into all of her shirts, jackets, and dresses, fluttering quickly in excitement. 

“It’s just me,” Alec calls to Magnus, side-eyeing the group. “What are you all doing here?” 

“They were here when I got home.” Magnus supplies with a pointed tone before any of the others have a chance to chime in first. 

“I said the key was for  _ emergencies _ .” Alec sighs. But seeing everyone together like this, laughing and smiling with the sort of energy that only seems to come from being around a child as full of life and curiosity as Nora is, warms his heart. And it’s especially comforting to see given the news he just received. 

Just a month ago on a mission-gone-wrong Nora’s guardians were killed, leaving the young warlock girl the sole survivor of her family by the time Alec and his team showed up. They got their intel too late to stop the attack, but not too late to save Nora. Instead of handing her over to the Clave Alec and Magnus volunteered to watch her, a temporary guardianship while inquiries were made into any other family she might have to go to. 

When it came back that there were not - or at least none stepping forward to claim her, not even friends of the family who may be willing to accept that life-changing burden - Alec was told to turn her over so she could be placed in an orphanage somewhere overseas, set up for abandoned warlock children. Magnus immediately shook his head, remember how it felt to be a warlock child no family wanted. To be a warlock child rejected by a mundane family? That was difficult enough. But to not even have Warlocks willing to take her in? He didn’t want to stand by and watch that happen. So they talked about it, for hours and over several pots of coffee, until… 

“I thought Magnus might like some help with Nora,” Izzy is quick to defend, bringing Alec back to the present. “So I offered to watch her while he ran out on an errand.”    
  
“That explains exactly one of you.” Alec says, looking expectantly at the other two. 

“Jace had some questions about a report, so I told him to come here so I could look it over without waking Nora up from her nap-” 

“-and I was with Jace,” Clary chimes in brightly before going back to puffing out her cheeks and making funny faces at the little girl who burst into hysterics each and every time. 

“And when I got home from the market-” Magnus makes a show of checking his watch. “-An hour and a half ago, none of them would leave.” Magnus makes his way out from the kitchen, diverting his path to cross in front of Alec to give him a quick kiss before walking over to the others. He’s smiling and there’s a light, melodical lilt to his voice that makes it very clear that he’s just giving them a difficult time as he watches them all fawn over Nora with a fond expression. 

“Well, you can all go now,” Alec says. “Thanks for the help.” 

“Do we have to?” Clary asks, all smiles and doe-eyes at the warlock girl. Jace is looking at the way Clary’s looking at the child with slight concern, not sure if baby-fever is exactly what he wants his girlfriend catching right now. Alec catches the look of mild terror on his brother’s face and almost laughs, but he’s too preoccupied with other thoughts. 

“Yes. Out.” Alec says, and it occurs to them that he looks a little… nervous? Anxious? He’s standing a bit too straight, fidgeting back and forth from foot to foot. 

Magnus gives Alec a strange look - it isn’t like him to be so quick to get rid of his family and friends, especially knowing how much everyone loves spending time with Nora. Something seems off, but he can’t quite place it, raising an eyebrow in his direction. 

“We don’t mind helping out. Really, it’s great that the two of you volunteered to watch over her, but it isn’t just your responsibility - it’s all of ours, while the Institute has her. We’re all here to help.” 

“Actually-” Alec starts, lifting his hand a bit. “She  _ is  _ just our responsibility now.” Magnus’ gaze is drawn down to the papers he holds there for the first time since his arrival. There’s a shaky smile on Alec’s face as he locks eyes with Magnus and the Warlock’s own eyes go from the papers, to Alec’s face, before immediately widening with realization and brimming with tears. 

“I thought they weren’t supposed to go through for another week?” Magnus’s asks, his voice soft. 

“Well, there are a few perks to being the Head of the Institute...” Alec points out, his smile widening. 

“...what’s happening?” Isabelle looks a mixture of confused and slightly concerned. “I feel like I’m missing something here.” 

Magnus looks from Isabelle to Alec. “We were going to wait until it was official… do you want to tell them?” 

But it’s hardly necessary - Izzy gasps, Jace is grinning, and Clary looks a second away from tears herself as they all put two-and-two together. 

“She’s doing so well with us and she’s been through so much already…” Alec smiles. “Who am I kidding, we both grew too attached to ever want to give her up now. When no one stepped up to claim guardianship we filed to adopt her, and they just passed the papers through today. It’s official - we’re Nora’s dads.” 

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell us!” Jace says, and for a moment he looks like he’s about to cross over to Alec to congratulate him, stopping at the sound of a choked-off sob. They all look over to see Magnus in proper tears now, with Clary moving to wrap her arms comfortingly around his shoulders as he sinks down onto the sofa. 

“I’m sorry,” Magnus says, smiling through the tears. “I promise they’re happy tears.” 

“Of course they are,” Izzy says, catching Jace’s eye and nodding towards the door. “I think it’s time we head back to the Institute. I’m sure you two have it from here the rest of the night.” 

They’re all aware of why Alec was so eager to get them out when he arrived - it’s clear the two of them have a lot they’re holding back, overly aware of their audience. 

“Thanks, everyone. Really.” Alec is relieved he doesn’t have to fight to get them out for now. There will be plenty of time for them all to celebrate later - and a lifetime to spend playing with Nora now. “I’ll see you back there later.”

“You better not,” Jace says firmly. “You’re taking the night off to spend with your daughter.” 

Alec looks like he’s about to protest until Jace uses the word ‘daughter’, and the words die on his lips. “Alright. I’ll see you tomorrow, then.” 

Izzy, Jace, and Clary make a hasty exit, and once the door shuts behind them Alec turns to Magnus to share a proper moment with him for the first time since he got the news. 

“This is it,” Alec says simply. “This is really happening.” 

“Do you regret agreeing to it?” Magnus asks, and Alec hates the flicker of fear he sees on Magnus’ face while he waits for Alec’s reply. They didn’t talk about it much before Nora came into their lives, but Magnus admitted that he always wanted a proper family: marriage, children, a chance at a domestic life with someone he loves. It was never in the cards for him before, but now? The hope of this working out for them, of being the start of their forever together, wasn’t lost on Alec during their conversations leading up to today. To see Magnus afraid of coming this close just to lose it again is too much. 

“Absolutely not.” Alec says it with such certainty that Magnus visibly relaxes. They both look over at Nora who is still sitting on the floor, staring towards the door that all of the people who were just playing with her disappeared through before turning her attention to the stuffed giraffe next to her. “I hope she’ll be happy here.” 

“She will be. Do you know how I know?” Magnus asks, standing from the sofa to cross over to where Alec stands. When he reaches him Alec wraps his arms around Magnus from the back, pulling him in close. 

Alec rests his chin on Magnus’ shoulder as he asks, “How?”. 

“Because she’s going to be so loved here. I’ve seen the way you look at her. And not just you - your sister, and brother, and even Clary and Simon. She’s never going to feel alone.” Magnus turns slowly to face him, staying close so Alec’s hands stay wrapped around his waist. “She’s going to be fine. And so are we.” 

Alec doesn’t reply, instead leaning in to place a kiss made nearly impossible through his smile on Magnus’ lips. 

“We’re going to be more than fine.” Alec says when they break apart. “I love you.” He pauses at the sound of Nora starting to cry. “I love both of you, so much.” 

And when Magnus replies Alec feels more full of warmth and fondness than he ever thought himself capable of. 

“We love you, too.”

**Author's Note:**

> (Find me on [Tumblr](http://bytheangell.tumblr.com) )


End file.
